FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
CONTACT: Jamie Hanks | (202) 225-8490

WASHINGTON, D.C. – U.S. Rep. Rodney Alexander, R-Quitman, today issued the following remarks after voting against the $447 billion Omnibus Appropriations bill:

“Today the House passed a measure that contains six of the seven remaining Appropriations bills, the result of congressional leaders’ failure to pass the necessary funding for the federal government through the regular Appropriations process prior to the end of the fiscal year in September.

“It is rather unsettling that when our nation is at a double-digit unemployment rate, Congress decides to pass a spending bill of seismic proportions.  
 
“This 2,500 page package contains half a trillion dollars in spending. In fact, this bill alone will increase spending by 12.2 percent in a single year.  Perhaps more astonishing is that when all Appropriations spending is combined, the majority will have increased non-defense, non-veterans discretionary spending by 85 percent over the last two fiscal years.

“The out of control spending by this Congress has caused our national debt to triple over the last year.  The American public does not want nor can it afford this mounting tab.

“We, as a nation, are currently facing serious economic hardships.  Too many people in Louisiana and across the country are hurting today.  Just about every American family has had to cut back and make do with less.  

“Unfortunately, the federal government does not act in the same manner.  Rather than follow their lead, our government is spending more than it collects . . . much more. 

“During this time of economic uncertainty, our nation needs responsible legislation that will put us on the path to recovery, not one that pilfers taxpayers.  We need to get back to fiscal discipline as a means of supporting economic growth.”